{"id":5817,"date":"2017-01-29T01:10:58","date_gmt":"2017-01-29T01:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/?p=5817"},"modified":"2017-01-31T02:14:24","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T02:14:24","slug":"i-am-human-just-like-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/i-am-human-just-like-you\/","title":{"rendered":"I am Human, Just Like You (Main Insaan Hun, Tumhaari Tarah)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the events of this week, I thought it would be relevant to share a song that celebrates unity and peace. This song, entitled “\u091c\u093e\u0928\u0947\u0935\u093e\u0932\u094b \u091c\u093c\u0930\u093e, \u092e\u0941\u0921\u093c\u0915\u0947 \u0926\u0947\u0916\u094b \u092e\u0941\u091d\u0947\/Jaanevalo Zara Mudke Dekho Mujhe” (Passersby, Just Turn and Look at Me) is from the 1964 movie, \u0926\u094b\u0938\u094d\u0924\u0940<\/em>\/Dosti<\/em> (fem. noun, friendship). The film centers on the close friendship between two young men: Ramu, a crippled boy who dreams of one day finding the means to resume his studies and a blind boy named Mohan. When it was released in 1964, the film was one of the ten highest grossing films of the year and was declared a “Super Hit”; it was also entered in the 4th Moscow Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image by Ashish M. on Flickr; the two actors on the left, Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra (respectively), starred in a famous Hindi film called Sholay <\/em>(1975) in which one of the most popular songs was called “Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Torenge” (“We Won’t Break this Friendship”).<\/p><\/div>\n

Both of the young men, who are abandoned by their families due to their disabilities and thus outcastes from society, find each other and realize they can earn money from singing and playing music on the street. Ramu, a skilled harmonica player, plays music in the background while Mohan fills the air with his powerful and expressive voice; through the money Mohan makes by singing on the street, he is able to pay for Ramu’s school admission and test fees on several occasions.<\/p>\n

\"Meena<\/a>

Image by Bolskaya on Wikimedia Commons; Meena Kumari, the tragedy queen of popular Hindi film and an accomplished poetess in Urdu.<\/p><\/div>\n

The song that follows is sung by Mohammed Rafi (\u092e\u094b\u0939\u092e\u094d\u092e\u0926 \u0930\u092b\u093c\u0940), whom I mentioned in a previous post <\/a>about playback singers. Rafi Sahab (\u0930\u092b\u093c\u0940 \u0938\u093e\u0939\u092c, saahab is a word that frequently follows a Muslim male’s first or last name and denotes respect; it is also used sometimes as a general form of address regardless of religious affiliation) was a Muslim singer in a country that was and still is majority Hindu. In fact, according to the CIA World Factbook, currently 79.8% of the country’s population is Hindu, while 14.2% are Muslim. Yet, due to Rafi Sahab’s extraordinary talent and savvy, he thrived in a film industry that, both then and now, is also majority Hindu. As a religious minority, Rafi undoubtedly faced numerous obstacles in his desire to rise to the ranks of one of the greatest playback singers of India’s history. But, unlike Muslim actors and actresses of the day, he worked mostly behind the scenes, so he did not experience as much pressure to conform to the majority culture. Dissimilarly, Muslim actors such as Dilip Kumar (born Mohammed Yusoof Khan), Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano) and Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Dehlavi) were often compelled to change their names to those that were more “Hindu-sounding” in order to be more successful in a film industry and country in which Muslims were often discriminated against. Although it is indeed true that most actors and actresses change their real names to “stage names” once they begin to pursue a career in film in earnest, the fact that such Muslim actors often changed their names to ostensibly Hindu rather than Muslim names is significant.<\/p>\n

\"Devdas<\/a>

Image by Snjsharma on Wikimedia Commons; Dilip Kumar played a tragic hero in the film Devdas<\/em> (1955) and was well-known for his naturalistic style of acting.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image by Officer on Wikimedia Commons; the actress Madhubala.<\/p><\/div>\n

Like the film in which it appears, which celebrates the friendship between two unlikely heroes and thus emphasizes their humanity, courage and fortitude above all else, this song reminds us to embrace the common humanity of those around us, no matter the superficial differences that exist between us.<\/p>\n